Severed Hand Falls From Sky

Newsday: Hand of unidentified person found on boat

A caretaker of a yacht docked at the Lawrence Village Marina ignored a thump he heard Sunday night and continued watching television. But when he went to the back of the boat, he found a hand lying on the deck, Nassau police said.

When the crew member of the 58-foot powerboat, who police did not identify, first heard the noise at about 8:30 p.m., he assumed a seagull had dropped a clamshell, said Det. Sgt. John King of the Fourth Squad.

"He doesn't think about it," King said. "But when he goes out to the back deck, there's the hand."

homicide detectives are looking into the possibility that it belongs to a body recovered off Atlantic Beach on May 10. The body, which had no hands or feet, has not been identified, Homicide Squad Det. Lt. Dennis Farrell said.

I first read this article on the New York Post Web site, which people on Fark have said is halfway between a real newspaper and a tabloid, and I thought that this was a case for Snopes to investigate. The comments on Fark then pointed to a Newsday article (see above) which gave more information and made the story more believable.